Zhangzi in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Zhangzi in context

2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ZhangziShanxi (Region)China (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Zhangzi plotted against Shanxi and China. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Zhangzi's incremental SNDi rose from 2.22 to 2.5 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Zhangzi ranked 16th out of 80 cities in Shanxi and 434th out of 1843 in China as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.5
Rank in China
514th of 1843
Rank in Shanxi
29th of 80

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.3
Rank in China
434th of 1843
Rank in Shanxi
16th of 80

Rankings go from most connected to most disconnected — rank 1 is the most connected.

What about similarly populated cities?

2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ZhangziSangmelimaMathbaria

While Sangmélima and Mathbaria both built increasingly disconnected streets over time, Zhangzi fluctuated in its street-construction patterns in new street additions. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Notably, Zhangzi had a more sprawly network than Mathbaria in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.